Gut-Brain Connection: How Happy Gut Bacteria Affects Mental Health | Guest Post By Keith Myers

There is a direct connection between your gut health and your brain. The thousands of bacteria that live in your GI tract not only play an important role in your physical or gut health but the effects extend to your brain health and neurological systems too. Your gut bacteria play a key role in your mood and mental health. Besides, happy gut bacteria can reduce the symptoms of stress, anxiety, or depression. But sometimes the bad gut bacteria can also make them worse. If you’re dealing with severe symptoms like leaky gut, you can consult a doctor on taking gut supplements (visit this link https://www.healthcanal.com/supplements/258805-gundry-md-bio-complete-3.html to know more).

It’s no joke that there is a direct relation between your gut and brain. Besides, The GI tract is also very sensitive to human emotions. For example, if you are imagining eating some delicious food, the thought itself can trigger the release of stomach juices even before you consume it. your gut and brain share a direct intimate connection. Also, the connection is not only a single way but goes both ways. A troubled intestine sends signals to the brain and vice versa. Therefore, when you experience some intestinal or stomach distress it may be the cause or product of mental stress, depression, or anxiety. Pop over website HealthCanal to read more about health information.

The connection between your brain and gut is especially true in cases when there is no physical cause behind your gastrointestinal disturbances. In such situations, it becomes difficult to identify the real cause behind the problem or find out a way to heal it without understanding your mental health. The below-mentioned points will clearly explain how your gut bacteria affects your brain and mental health.

Gut bacteria communicate with your brain

The gut bacteria break down the food you consume and dietary fiber. It then transforms it into metabolites. Further, the nerve detects the short-chain fatty acids like metabolites and sends your brain data to regulate the digestive process.

The vagus nerve and the nervous system makes a gut-brain connection

The central nervous system instructs you how to behave. Where the human brain contains around 100 billion neurons, your gut contains around 500 million neurons that are connected to the brain through nerves. Among these nerves, the vagus nerve is one of the biggest nerves that connect your gut and your brain. This nerve sends signals in both directions. Thus you may understand how a disbalance in your gut bacteria can have a direct effect on your brain through the vagus nerve. Hence the happier bacteria present in your gut, the better mental health you can expect.

Gut bacteria make chemicals that affect your brain

The trillions of microbes present in your GI tract make other chemicals too that affect your brain. The microbes break down or digest fiber to create short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, propionate, and acetate. These chemicals affect your brain functioning in multiple ways. The chemical butyrate along with the microbes that helps produce it is responsible for forming the blood-brain barrier. Besides, the microbes are also responsible for metabolizing bile and amino acids to produce other chemicals that affect your brain. Although bile acids are associated with absorbing dietary fats but have a direct effect on your brain too.

Happy gut bacteria lead to a happy brain

The happy or the good bacteria in your gut produces an essential short-chain fatty acid named butyrate. This is produced when you eat plants and vegetables like nuts, legumes, fruit, seeds, whole grains, and veggies. This chemical helps keep your gut lining strong and intact and also prevents inflammation. The benefit of the chemical is not only limited to taking care of your gut health. However, it aids your brain too. Also, a new study shows that this chemical plays an active part in the growth of brain cells too.

Happy hormones are regulated by gut microbes

Gut microbes play an important role in generating happy hormones. The gut microbes break down the food you consume to produce short-chain fatty acids. Now, these SCFAs communicate with cells that create serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical messenger that regulates various brain activities like your mood, anxiety, and happiness. So, in short, your gut microbe can help produce more serotonin and thus regulates your mental health.

Besides, some probiotic gut bacteria can even help produce an equally important neurotransmitter named Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid or GABA. This helps calm your nervous system as well as regulate your mood.

Fundamentally, the food you eat or your diet plan can eventually help your gut bacteria to maintain your mental health. Thus, when your microbiome is full of lots of healthy bacteria, it produces mood-lifting chemicals like GABA or serotonin.

The bottom line

From the above points, you get a detailed insight into how happy gut bacteria can affect your mental health. Altogether it can be concluded that the healthier food you consume the happier you feel. Good food will help create happy gut bacteria that further create short-chain fatty acids, which then help produce neurotransmitters responsible for regulating your mood, stress, anxiety, and overall mental health.